Wikipedia - Liga Alef

Liga Alef (Hebrew: ליגה א', lit. 'League A') is the third tier of the Israeli football league system. It is divided into two regional divisions, north and south.

History

League football began in Israel in 1949–50, a year after the Israeli Declaration of Independence. However, the financial and security crises gripping the young nation caused the 1950–51 season to be abandoned before it had started. When football resumed in 1951–52, the new top division went by the name of Liga Alef. The 1952–53 season was also not played, and Liga Alef resumed in 1953–54.

In the 1955–56 season, Liga Leumit came into existence as the new top division, with Liga Alef becoming the second division. In the summer of 1976, restructuring saw the creation of Liga Artzit as a new second tier, and the second demotion of Liga Alef, as it became the third division. Further restructuring to create the Israeli Premier League in the summer of 1999 saw Liga Alef demoted again, this time to the fourth tier. At the end of the 2008–09 season, Liga Artzit was scrapped as the Premier League and Liga Leumit were expanded to 16 clubs each, with Liga Alef becoming the third tier once more.

Israel - Liga Alef Syd er Israels næsthøjeste fodboldliga. Ligaen består af 16 hold, og de spiller en dobbeltrunde, hvor hvert hold møder hinanden to gange. De to bedste hold rykker op i Liga Leumit, mens nr. 3-6 spiller playoffkampe om den tredje oprykningsplads. De to nederste hold rykker ned i Liga Bet.

Liga Alef Syd blev grundlagt i 1976, og det første vindende hold var Hapoel Ashkelon. De mest succesfulde hold i ligaens historie er Hapoel Ra'anana, som har vundet ligaen 5 gange, og Hapoel Bnei Lod, som har vundet ligaen 3 gange.

Nogle af de mest kendte spillere, der har spillet i Liga Alef Syd, omfatter Yossi Benayoun, Tomer Hemed og Eran Zahavi.